An enchanting fantasy adventure filled with heart and soul. Amari is magical!” — Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE HATE U GIVE Praise for AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS: “The story introduces a world of enchantment, danger, excitement, and humor. While many parallels can be drawn between the protagonist and a certain boy wizard, readers will root for Amari’s own unique determination and wit.” — Horn Book Magazine Nachdem "Amari und die Nachtbrüder" mich so positiv überrascht hatte wollte ich unbedingt wissen, wie es mit Amari, Elsie und auch Dylan weitergehen würde.

Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal? Amari isn’t really interested in that kind of responsibility. (I mean she’s just 13!) But there is someone very, very evil who does want that mantle and its power boost. And that could be disastrous. The only way to avoid something terrible is for Amari to compete in a series of incredibly tough magician tests. The winner gets the relic, the position and the powers of the loser. Direkt zu Beginn des Buchs wird Amari für ein Verbrechen verantwortlich gemacht, das sie nun heimlich aufzuklären versucht während die Oberbehörde ihr das Leben so schwer wie möglich macht. Und als ob das nicht schon reichen würde taucht auch noch die Magische Allianz auf und zwingt Amari in ein gefährliches Abenteuer, bei dem sie alles gewinnen oder alles verlieren könnte...Just because we are dealing with a supernatural world/problems doesn’t mean that the themes in it aren’t relatable! The author handled everything beautifully and seamlessly, making Amari a female main character that I can be proud to call a favourite. She’s brave even when she’s scared, she does the right thing even when it’s hard. You read about her choices, making you feel even more connected to the character. She faces judgement and prejudices and she makes mistakes along the way: making her even more loveable and relatable in my eyes. With an evil magican threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton. That collection of magical, mythical, mystical beasties includes fairies, witches, ghosts, wraiths, magicians, talking inanimate objects and more. There’s also lots of supernatural evil in this world. Magicians, for instance, are considered to be the bane of peaceful existence. Amari, however, is considered by many to be an unexpected hero after the events of the first book. And she uses her talents to help others and encourage people to accept others and work to be the best they can be. We learn of a secret league of magicians (many being famous politicians, celebrities and social media stars in Amari’s world) who approach Amari because of the huge amount of untapped power she wields. Unfortunately, their desire isn’t to use that power for everyone’s betterment, but to start a war with the rest of the supernatural world. And Dylan Van Helsing is very much in favor of grabbing the proffered power and pursuing that outcome. For some time now, I have been wanting to read B.B. Alston’s “Amari and the Great Game.” Alston is a really good writer, but there were some problems with this second book in his series.

Have you ever realized that you have an unexpected skill or gift at something? How did that come about? Do you think we all have some abilities that we may not yet know we have? How do you help someone discover their strengths or be the best person they can be? It was pretty enjoyable, but not quite as good as I was expecting 😒😒 Probably my fault for going in with such high expectations....Amari Peters is everything. She is President. CEO. The speaker of the house. I'm obsessed with her. The Great Game proclaims reliance on friends and family; the rewards of steadfast perseverance; and the advantages of bringing out the best in others, including your enemies. The book also points to the detrimental effects of prejudging people or setting them apart as a group of unwanted “others.” the cast of characters is just as wonderful as ever, but for most of the novel, they all act independently from one another with only Amari as the connecting piece. once these characters all come together around that 80% mark, wonderful things happen, but the waiting period to get to an exciting part of the story is such a huge contrast to the incredible experience I had with the first novel in this series.

Amari hat mir als Prota wieder sehr gut gefallen. Sie ist selbstsicherer geworden und steht mehr für sich ein, obwohl sie aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeiten diskriminiert und schikaniert wird. Die Story hat schnell Fahrt aufgenommen, ließ sich zügig lesen und hielt einige Rätsel und Überraschungen bereit, auch wenn ich mit vielen Dingen einfach schon gerechnet hatte, was aber nicht weiter schlimm war und dem Buch keinen Abbruch getan hat. A 13-year-old magician must face her fears and learn to control her magic in hopes of preventing a supernatural war in this follow-up to 2021’s Amari and the Night Brothers. Both younger and older readers will appreciate that Amari doesn’t do everything on her own. While she initially keeps things from her friends, she lets them in on what’s happening in her life fairly early on. Amari may be a strong magician, but it isn’t just her powers that make her a great character. She’s willing to learn from her mistakes, give people a second chance and lean on their strengths.

In that sense, The Great Game frowns at anyone who would prejudge or be prejudiced against any group of “others” they might encounter. Of course, everybody blames magicians. They’re the only ones with enough magic to even attempt such a feat. And Amari happens to be one of the few magicians that people know about. So that means a lot of the supernatural residents are looking at her with scared or angry looks in their eyes. She didn’t do anything! But they’ve gotta blame someone. The story doesn’t quite end with a happily-ever-after. However, it does set things up nicely for a dramatic third (and final?) book in the Supernatural Investigations series. Alongside recent middle-grade books like Marti Dumas’ Wildseed Witch and Dhonielle Clayton’s The Marvellers, Amari and the Great Game is a great addition to the newest round of magical school books.

Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry. Praise for AMARI AND THE NIGHT BROTHERS: “A breath of fresh air in the normal-kid-finds-out-they’re-magic genre, with Amari’s snappy, no-nonsense narration, a mix of new, bizarre supernatural creatures and classic vampires and witches, and rich world building that reads as both familiar and fantastic…. Readers will no doubt cross their fingers for more of Amari’s adventures.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books And all throughout the adventure you get moments like this?! “I don’t say anything else in class. I just sit there, my whole body, tense with irritation. It’s so easy for some people to dismiss others’ experiences because they don’t have the same problems.”— 👏👏👏 Fans of the first book will jump at the opportunity to immerse themselves once again in the delights and surprises of this magical world, filled with equal parts wonder and suspense." — School Library Journal

Personalized picks at your fingertips

The friendship in this book is ELITE. UGH! I wanted to cry reading about how amazing of a friend Amari is. She put her friendships above all else. Which I know is easier to do as a child than it is when boyfriends and such become a factor. But I really don't think Amari will grow out of her loyalty for her friends. I think she depicts such an amazing girls-supporting-girls energy and I'm here for it. Have you thought about what the Bible says about supernatural things? Take a look at Leviticus 19:31, Ephesians 6:12 and Psalms 91:11. What do you think these verses are telling us about the supernatural things in our world? The author used the term ‘glamour’ when referring to the magic that others couldn’t see. When I read the first book, it seemed okay, but after having read the sequel, I think the author should use a *different* term because Riordan already used ‘glamour’ in his books. I’m not surprised that he did this, because throughout this book, he excessively borrows a lot from other writers. For example, Alston’s reference to orcs (Tolkien), and etc. Amari and the Great Game is a sequel we need to be talking about. It stands out for me because it’s so different than so many other sequels. I thought I knew what to expect going in and B.B. Alston said, “Nope, I’ve got something else in mind” and I LOVED that! OK, it was really cool for Amari to discover that she had, like, hidden-away magical powers last summer. Just the fact that there was this equally hidden-away supernatural world, right in the midst of her hometown, was a completely mind-blowing experience. And it was also awesome to somehow use her powers to beat a bad guy named Dylan Van Helsing and save her beloved brother, Quinton.